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We’ve returned down south now.

Our visit to Hokkaido was looking bleak, until we did what we should have done in the first place and checked into a youth hostel, instead of a random capsule hotel or some other such thing.

When we first got to Hokkaido we were almost going to leave without saying goodbye, however to make sure we were not missing something, I suggested we check into a hostel, with a cute name such as Ino’s Place.

This was a great thing, since at Ino’s Place we met a bunch of new cool people, and got tips as to what to do in Hokkaido. Being lazy bastards that we are, we only did one thing. Went to this lake with some volcanoes.

That would probably have been damn fun, if it was not too cloudy to see anything. Hokkaido is supposed to be excempt from Japan’s rainy season that takes place during June, however with our luck, it was either raining or cloudy all the time that we were there.

However, while the weather was not with us we met some cool people and did manage a few interesting vistas.

We had a fun (read: crazy) karaoke night, ate some seriously heavy mongolian barbeque (which in my eyes was just yakiniku with a different sauce and thicker sliced beef), had both good and bad sushi, ate great ramen and bought slippers. Yup.

On the way back to Tokyo, our train was delayed so we missed our connection, and since it was the last train, we got bumped to a night train! The JR pass that we have allows free travel on all JR trains, except the fastest one (Nozomi) and sleeper trains. The sleeper train was nice, it was cozy to sit in a restaurant of a moving train. It’s been a long time since I was on a sleeper train. It brought back nostalgic memories of youth! hehe.

It also meant we saved about 7000 yen and the hastle of getting a hotel at 11pm. Instead we arrived somewhat well rested (those beds arent that comfortable) the next morning and could start our day as if we checked out from a hotel!

So today we bounced arround Roppongi and Akihabara, and either tomorrow or Monday we’re heading down to Kyoto, since it’s a must visit destination when in Japan.

To finish it all off, I would like to say that Tokyo quite a bit warmer the Hokkaido. I personally enjoy the heat (although I would have preffered to have something other then jeans), but Nisse isn’t a big fan of it.

So, there you have it. Heat.

PS: I was unable to upload pics, because this “Gera Gera” Internet Cafe is TEH SUX!

A 9 hour train ride conveniently split up into 3 hour rides on different trains id what separates Tokyo people from Sapporo people.

We undertook the journey. It was fine right up until it got dark, when it was no longer fun to look out the window, and so boredom overtook. The last train was not too comfortable either, so it was just a bit frustrating.

We slept over in a strange capsule hotel and today are trying to find some interesting stuff to do in Hokkaido.

Sapporo is Japan’s beer capital as I understand it, which would probably please people I know more then it pleases me and Nisse. There are apparently nice beer places to visit here, but since beer is not my liquid of choice, such things are best left to others.

Our new packing is working out just fine, we can walk around with that shit all day and not even break a sweat.

Speaking of sweat, Hokkaido is colder and less humid then the mainland. In fact, this place feels much more like Sweden, but I think it’s warmer in Sweden right now.

So anyway, better sign off and read the guidebooks, because otherwise we’ll just end up wandering the streets and then leave! hehe

Cheerio.

Having traveled all the way down to Beppu (a 6-7 hour ride down by various trains), I decided that my backpack was way too heavy. So after much pondering and then some more pondering, we decided to go to Tokyo and drop off some stuff.

My packing has now been reduced by about 70%, the backpack is extremely light and fun to carry. Previously it was a source of pain and agony. I feel much better now.

Beppu has lots of hot springs, and we will probably go past that way again. However, tomorrow we’re setting off north, so we can maybe skip the worst of the raining season and head back down south later.

Check out angelhill.net/movies/japan_2006, I’ll be putting up some movies there that we film along the way. Although the upload speed is teh suxx, so it might not be too many.

Enjoy fresh pics on flickr. I’m signing off for now.

Don’t get wet. You won’t be dry until winter.

Japan is a country of humidity. If you get wet (which you do automatically), you will never be dry. Thus you are essentially always wet.
I wonder if this country is a BAD BAD market for moisteriser creams!

Anyway, we’re in Hiroshima now. This town was not that fun. Tomorrow we’ll go to see some atom bomb memorials, then we’re moving on down south. We’ll see where the wind takes us.

To be honest, I am not as enthusiastic about the whole trip thing right now. I wish I could be, but it seems I’ve been smitten by a well known incurable disease and the only cure is in Sweden…
At the moment I just want to go home. My case was much worse then I thought.

Anyway enjoy the pics, I gotta go.

Cheerio.

The manga cafe is like my home away from home. Now it has also become Nisses home away from home.

At this point, drunk and somewhat tired, we are preparing to get our ass some sleep on a two seater sofa, unfortunately in the smoking section.

A Japanese person would say, “World Cup dakara….”

This evening begun with some minor booze at an Izakaya, where we also ate dinner. Later it moved into a smaller place where only booze and minor snacks were consumed. I ate a snale. It tasted like chicken.

After that we went to a huge stadium where lots of japanese people were watching Japan vs Australia on a big screen TV. It felt almost like what I believe is a real match, sound wise.

The end of the evening was spent rolling around in the grass like a crazy person, and then we walked to Shibuya, and subsequently our favorite Manga Cafe, Moopa.

In any event, the latest pics of flickr will show you some highlights about tonight. Enjoy.

We visited a museum. Tokyo Edo Museum. I am not a big lover of museums, but this one had models and lots of cool memorabilia, so it was ok. Quite tiring though.

Since Taito Ryokan had no more space, we spent the night in a Capsule hotel. It was nice, but the one that I stayed at in Osaka last year was nicer. Less creeky.

Anyways and anyhow…

Last night we went to Kamakura. It was fun, temples, giant buddhas and the ocean.

The weather was cloudy so it mostly just nice to be on a beach and wash your feet a little.

 Later in the evening we went to a super cheap Yakiniku place, where a beer or cider-like plum wine thingie cost 100 Yen… yes, that’s 100 yen for a GLASS OF FUCKING BOOZE!

Needless to say our party of 8 got quite seriously wasted. We got lucky in that we got to stay at the house of one of the peeps at the party, and so we avoided sleeping in a capsule hotel again. Saved some money and met nice people. Win/Win. Oh and I also ate some raw liver. Funky stuff.

Today we went to a public bath. It was niiiice. Very relaxing to sit around 41 degree warm water outside in the rain. A peaceful experience, highly recommended.

After some lunch we set off for Shibuya to get our stuff, and now here I am writing this stuff.  Today we are just gonna head to our hotel and relax. Tomorrow, exploration continues anew! We’re going to the Bandai museum to look at funky japanese toys and anime.

Ok, finally I have some time to write some stuff.

It’s 2am now, and I am a bit tired, but I am sitting here in a manga cafe and uploading pictures. Nisse just fell asleep in his chair. We payed 980 yen to stay here until 8am, but we still have our hostel room waiting for us. I think we’ll go there after we’re done here.

In any event, I shall try to summarize some of the stuff that we’ve been doing here.
(more…)

Well, I have finally arrived in Japan. Mixed feelings really, for reasons I mentioned before.

But Nisse is excited, and well, so am I.

I was gonna upload some photos, but I forgot the USB cable in my damn backpack. In fact, I took it out of my camera bag and put it into my backpack.

Anyway, we`re sitting in some manga kafe. Its hot, the keyboards are annoyingly japanese, and its tight. But fuck, this is the shit.

In any event, I will write more later, right now, time is a bit of the essence.